A stormy night
by Zmaster1138
Summary: Jake is alone at the salvage yard when Callie unexpectedly arrives. She stuck there because of the storm. Felina gets a birthday present, but she can't enjoy it much. Hard Drive has managed to steal something from Pumadyne again.


Disclaimer: SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron," its characters and concepts are copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc and are used without permission.

Summary: Jake is alone at the salvage yard when Callie unexpectedly arrives. She stuck there because of the storm. Felina gets a birthday present, but she can't enjoy it much. Hard Drive has managed to steal something from Pumadyne again.

Author's Comments/Notes:

Hi everybody! I'm new here as a writer, and this is my first fic. I've never thought I will write SWAT Kats fan fictions. But after I read Cat Matson's and Jade F. Callan's series I have the inspiration to write my own. I don't know how long it will be, maybe 7 or more episodes. I haven't write romantic stories before so I hope it won't be so bad. Any reviews comments and critics are welcome.

Many thanks to Kristen Sharpe for her help!

A stormy night

Chance opened one of his eyes and looked around in the room with his weary glance as though he heard some kind of noise. Then decided he didn't care about it, and turned around onto his other side in the bed.

He and Jake had a hard day yesterday. Dr. Viper made an attempt again to turn Megakat City into his Megaswamp City. This time he aimed at the Megakat Botanical Garden. When they arrived there were wiggling spiny tentacles and carnivorous plants everywhere already. It was hard to stop Dr. Viper's plan, but finally they managed to. Unfortunately Viper escaped, and they were searching for him till dawn.

Loud honking woke up Chance again. He recognized the horn. It was Burke and Murray's dump truck with the weekly scrap metal. He didn't feel any urge to deal with those two exasperating guys especially so early. It was hardly past 10 am.

"Jake!" exclaimed his Chance, to indicate to him that he should go down and sign the waybill.

"No Chance," came the sleepy response, "It's your turn now."

Chance drilled his head into his pillow rather than hear Jake's answer. Meanwhile the dump truck stopped. It sounded like the pigmy Murray shouted something, but he didn't understand, and honestly he didn't care. The big bang what followed made Chance jump out his bed.

"What the…?"

Quickly he dressed with his mechanic uniform, put his cap on and went down. When he crossed the garage he remembered they left the tow truck out, when Callie alarmed them yesterday. He felt now that was a mistake. As he stepped out, he saw their tow truck's engine hood covered with scrap metal, because Murray emptied their truck's contents on it.

"Hey Murray! What the heck you doing?" asked Chance while he walked to their truck. Now he was completely awake.

"Look buddy!" said Burke, "At last, one of them managed to land here."

"You mean crashed?" Murray took the opportunity for a joke, and they laughed.

When they noticed Chance grit his teeth, they laughed even louder.

"Sign it" Murray stretched the waybill to him. Chance quickly marked the waybill.

"Now get your tails outta here as long as I ask you nicely!"

"Or what? You'll ran away like the last time?" Burke said.

"Oh, I'm so scared!" Murray added.

They both laughed, then Murray started the dump truck and they began going toward the gate.

Their dump truck stirred up dust. Chance got a bit of it, but he scoured it away from his eyes in one move.

Furious, Chance tossed his cap off.

"Wow, easy buddy! You look like you're ready to blow up." heard Jake's voice behind him.

Chance bent down for his cap. He roughly dusted it, then put it back on his head.

"Looks like our 'friends' made us some extra work."

Jake followed his friend's glance and saw their tow truck.

"Crud! Now we can pray not to have an emergency call, before we can repair it. Let's drink our coffee and get started."

After they had their coffee, they started to dig out the truck from the junk. A few hours later they could start the repair. Meanwhile the weather was changing. The wind brought great watery clouds from the sea. In the afternoon the wind grew stronger and the first raindrops appeared. In that moment the phone rang in the garage. Chance climbed out from the truck's hood. He walked to answer the phone, while he rubbed his hands in a rag, which hung out of his pocket.

Jake pulled some screws, and then he climbed into the driver's seat. He turned the ignition key and pressed down the accelerator. At last the engine started.

"Nice work" Chance praised him, when he came back.

"Yeah, but I still have to repair the radio. Who called?"

"It was an emergency call. Luckily our tow truck is operational again, so I can go."

"You can go?" Jake was surprised, "You mean we can go."

Chance shook his head.

The raindrops became thicker.

"No buddy, this time I'll go alone. Till then you bring everything in from the roof. Because we are looking at a pretty nasty storm soon. Then clean up the Turbokat's engines. I don't want that goo to dry entirely. "

"Anything else, sir?" asked Jake with a biting grin.

"Nothing else, dismissed" replied Chance back.

Jake got out of the seat, and allowed Chance to get in.

"Hey! Don't get in the habit of talking like Feral!" the slim kat told him, when he was ready to drive away.

"I won't. But if I do, you can kick my tail."

"Yes, sir!" Jake imitated a salute and he was still grinning, when Chance drove away.

Then Jake looked up at the sky and he had to admit Chance was right. Really a nasty storm was approaching. Jake hurried back to the garage and locked the two doors. After that he went out to the patio and brought in the parasol, the garden chairs, and the table. When he was finished, he went down to the hangar to begin cleaning the Turbokat from the traces of the yesterday's adventure.

Meanwhile at the Enforcer Headquarters Commander Feral was bending over his desk. He was reading the first reports of last night incident. _Those cursed Swat Kats! Again they poked their noses into something they have nothing to do with._ The Commander's hands clenched even only thinking of them.

He threw aside the reports and shook his head, trying to clear his mind of yesterday night's events. He had to deal with an equally important case. Tomorrow was his niece's birthday. He picked up the phone to check that everything was ready for the surprise.

When Jake was nearly ready with the cleaning, the storm tamed into rampant rain. After he finished he went up and had a shower. He was planning to sit in the office and watch TV. But when he peered out from the floor window, he saw headlights. At first he thought Chance was back, but in a second look, he recognized the headlights were different from their tow truck. So he dressed again in his overalls and went down the garage.

He was surprised when he saw Callie's green sedan roll in. The wheels were heavily covered with mud, and the sedan's side was also muddy. But, it wasn't the sight of the car that made Jake's stomach tighten. Rather, it was the sight of the driver.

Callie wore her usual pink suit with purple tie. Her long blonde hair was a little disheveled, and her look was tired. In her opinion she looked terrible. If she mentioned this Jake would assure her the opposite. He couldn't imagine this she-kat could look bad ever.

"Hi Jake, I hope I didn't break in too late, but I can't procrastinate on the repairs anymore " Callie apologized as she got out the car.

Jake didn't really understand the meaning of Callie's words. While Callie was speaking he looked straight at her, and their glance met. Jake was enchanted with the two green eyes behind her glasses. Finally Callie's voice woke him up from the silent stare.

"Jake?"

"Huh? Sorry Callie, I … I was just wondering", he turned back to reality, and looked away from the beautiful eyes, "I thought Chance came back."

"Chance is not here?", she asked with a little surprise in her voice.

_That's right, he's really not here._ This fact even more pumped up his blood pressure. If Chance were here, the situation would be simple. For him, it wouldn't be a problem to talk Callie. But now Jake hardly spit out a word. When his friend was here, he could talk easier, not to mention as they were talking he could delight in her beauty. However now she stood here face to face, and this scared him more than a dozen of Dr. Viper's mutated monsters. But he must pull himself together if he didn't want to make himself a complete idiot.

"He went out for an emergency call, and he hasn't come back yet."

"Oh, I see. Then could you have a look at my car?"

"Sure, what's the problem?" Jake allowed himself a deeper breath. At least the car repairing would preoccupy his attention.

"Something with the ignition, I guess. The engine hardly starts."

"Okay, let's see it." He raised the hood and began to examine the engine. When the half examination was done he realized Callie was still standing next to the car. In his mind he gave himself a slap because he forgot to offer her a seat.

"It will take some time. Feel free to go inside and have a seat. You can watch TV or there are some newspapers if you would rather read." He said under the hood, and gestured to the office. He eagerly hoped Callie didn't notice the mild shake on his arm.

"Thanks Jake." He heard Callie's voice, which sounded from the settee, which had seen better days. When Jake heard the familiar creak, he knew Callie took a seat. Soon after he heard the TV's noise. The monotonic background noise helped Jake feel easier, like the work.

Twenty minutes later Jake finished the car repair. The rain still fiercely hit the garage door and Chance hadn't returned yet. Jake took a deep breath and entered the office. She was still watching the TV with a little smile on her face.

"The car is ready" he enunciated.

"That's great! Thank you Jake" Callie stood up and she prepared to leave.

"Callie" Jake started spiritlessly, "You know, you shouldn't leave now." Callie's sudden interested glance made him confused, so he quickly continue before she could misunderstand him, "I mean, the mud is too great because of the rain, and you even couldn't leave the yard. We have to wait for Chance with the tow truck. With the help of it, we can bring you to the nearest cement road."

"I guess you are right." Callie said. To Jake it seemed that she was disappointed, when she sat again on the couch.

For a few moments that seemed like a few hours both of them were in silence, just the TV's noise could be heard. When Jake saw Callie's disappointment he thought she would leave this junkyard, and search for more interesting company than him. He really wanted to ooze away. Then the TV grabbed his attention.

"Is the Litterbin show on?" Jake asked while he entered the office to convince himself of it with his own eyes. Callie's answer was only a nod, while her gaze was on the TV screen. Another moment flew away, and now Callie broke the silence.

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah, this is my favorite show."

"Then why don't you sit down?"

Jake was hesitating for a while, but finally he sat down on the couch next to Callie. Together, they watched the rest of the Litterbin show. After that Jake brought two cans of milk, which they ingested while watching the late night news. When Ann Gora began to speak of the Swat Kats latest pop up, Jake clearly saw Callie's interest. His bad mood turned worse.

What did he think? Why did he think a successful she-kat like Callie would show any interest in a lowly car mechanic, when she could have the Swat Kats. He imagined her face if he told her that actually she sat next to one of them. Then his thoughts digressed. How different it was when he met her when he was Razor. He'd never forgotten that elevator-shaft wherein Dr. Viper's carnivorous plant chased them. He'd never told Chance, but then if he hadn't felt Callie's desperate clamber and tremble, he never would have gotten out alive on his own. Callie's presence doubled his strength.

"What's the matter Jake?" asked Callie.

"Huh?" Jake returned to the present "I was just wondering where Chance is staying so long. I'm starting to worry for him."

"I'm sure he's all right. I believe he can arrive any minute", answered Callie, then yawned.

They continued the silent TV watching. After the news came a politician program of some kind. Jake's eyes began to stick down. He did big blinks so he could stay awake. Later on he snapped up his head and he recognized the program was over, and now they only showed ads. It seemed he'd snoozed, but not alone. Callie leaned against his right side, and she put her head on his shoulder. He could feel every breath.

His first thought was to embrace her**,** but the second was don't do it. If she woke up in his arms, he could hardly spit out a word. Furthermore he wasn't sure he had the right to do it, because he hadn't forgotten the disappointment in her look, when he had asked her to stay. So he stood up carefully and laid her down on the couch. Silently, he went upstairs, and brought her a blanket. He softly covered her.

He glanced at the sleeping Callie on the couch in disbelief. _I still can't believe she is sleeping here._ Maybe he should bring her up to the bed, but he didn't want to wake her up now. It was noticeable she had a hard day. He went to the stairs. Before he went up, he peered at her as goodbye. Then her glasses grabbed his attention. He went back to carefully take them off. From the different electronics works he had already learnt how to move carefully and slowly, but now he was trying to do his best. He almost managed to take it off, when Callie unintentionally stretched one of her hands out, and it just bumped into Jake's paw. As soon as she felt it, she subconsciously curled her fingers around it and pulled Jake's kidnapped hand to herself.

Fortunately even so Jake could take off her glasses, and with his free hand he put them on the table which stood next to the couch. With a sigh he looked back at his kidnapper. It looked like he would spend the night here, as eventually Callie decided it.

He couldn't disturb her rest. And it was a good thing to hold her paw, feel her fingers and silky fur. So he sat to the floor in front of the couch, and his head leaned against his free arm. He was gazing at the sleeping Callie who seemed to be an angel for him, with her shining gold hair. He was still looking at her, when finally his eyes closed, because of the fatigue.

However the night wasn't working out so luckily for everyone. After Chance helped the car driver, he wanted to get back as soon as he could. So he had chosen his favorite shortcut. Thanks to the persevering rain the road changed into a sea of mud. He had hardly drove a minute, and he had succeeded in becoming stuck. The speed increase was in vain; the truck dug itself in.

Chance snarled, and finally he gave up. He peered around maybe to see something he could tie the tow truck's towrope to, so he could pull himself out from the mud. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything in the area that could handle the tow truck's weight. So he had one choice.

He got off and pulled his overall's slide fastener higher, and turned up its collar, to protect himself from the rain. He walked to the truck's rear, turned his back to it, and he began to push it with his full strength. He hoped he would be able to push it out from the pit. It didn't work, so he turned around, put his hands on the truck, and began to push again. But the more he exerted, the more his legs slipped backward in the slippery mud.

His exertion wasn't in vain, because the truck was starting to move. Finally he wanted to give it a big push; he hoped it would free the truck from the mud. But because of the push his legs slipped out, and he landed face first in the mud.

He raised his head with an angry look on his muddy face. In his anger he hit the ground, creating a smaller mud shower.

"It's just great!" he grumbled, while he stood up. "It's seems I'm stuck here."

He rubbed his hands into the overalls, then cleaned his face of most of the mud. Chance fretfully climbed back behind the wheel. Because the truck's radio wasn't working yet, he couldn't call Jake. The mega booster system didn't work either. Thanks to Burke and Murray. _Some day they will pay for this_. He didn't want to go for help in the rain, so he had to wait.

He laid his head against the headrest, and tried snuggling in the seat. He was thinking about his situation. How ironic. A breakdown truck which needs a breakdown truck. He just hoped that Jake didn't worry about him. Slowly raindrop drum drifted him off to sleep.

Jake woke up because he was cold. He raised his head and saw that he was lying on the office floor in front of the couch. On the couch Callie was still sleeping, but now she released his hand. Jake yawned and stood up. He was wondering what he should do. At first he looked out the office window, but Chance hadn't returned yet with the tow truck.

He left the office and as quietly as he could pull down the garage door. He forgot it yesterday, because Callie grabbed all his attention. He didn't lock the door, because he wasn't sure Chance took his own keys. He returned to the office and looked for a chair. He snuggled in and put his legs near the TV on the table. Because he didn't lock the doors he didn't want to leave Callie alone. Not to mention it wouldn't be mannerly to sleep in a bed while she only gets a couch.

A great thunder woke up Felina in the middle of the night. Because of the loud noise her blood pressure went up and for a moment she felt her heart pulsate in her throat. She eased a little when she figured out it was just the storm that woke her up. She pulled the blanket onto herself, but she couldn't fall asleep again. She was still nervous a little bit.

She didn't like storms. If someone asked her why, she answered weather like this makes the flying difficult. But now she wasn't flying, she was alone in her flat at the Enforcer Headquarters. In fact she was afraid of the storm. But she would never admit to someone else.

It happened to her when she was six. At that time, there was a big storm too. Her bed was under the window. She had woken up because of thunder and lightning. Then with a big boom of thunder a strong flurry had broken the window. A lot of shards of glass covered her in the bed. Through the broken window the cold rain fell on her. She was terribly frightened for a few moments she lay numbly. After that she started screaming. Her uncle came in first and took her out of the bed. She couldn't remember much, because after that, most of the time she hanged on her uncle's neck and cried.

At the moment she didn't desire to hang on her uncle, however it would be a reassuring thought if he was around, in the next room for example. When she had become an Enforcer he offered her a place to live with him, but Felina rejected it. She didn't want favoritism just because she was the Commander's niece. She didn't want to loll out from the others.

She tried everything to be treated her equal to the others. She wasn't really successful. Everybody knew who she was, therefore they were permissive or they were obnoxious. Some of the enforcers who were braver than the rest tried to make up with her, but only for their own interests. They wanted to get better relations with her uncle. She threw out one after the other, but she couldn't break the others cheer. Then one day she knocked out one of her interested suitors in the canteen in front of a dozen enforcer's sight. The following disciplinary auditing was to dismiss her, but fortunately they didn't throw her out. It's likely her uncle was involved in the decision, but he denied it when she asked him about it.

After that case there were no more suitors, and some enforcers began to treat her like other enforcers. She lived for her work in the last year. Usually she was satisfied with it, but sometimes when she woke up in the middle of the night, she wished it wouldn't be so. If only she wouldn't have to be alone in this flat and listen to the raindrops on her own. Only then she felt something was missing in her life. _No!_ She shook her head in the bed. She decided she would be strong. She decided it when she joined the Enforcers. She wouldn't let anything make her draw back, or anything make her frightened. Never.

Slowly she managed to fall asleep. But the determinedness and the stubbornness were in vain, because the unwelcome feelings didn't disappear, only drew back and waited for the right moment when they could explode.

This time Jake didn't wake up because of the cold, but because of the garage door's noise. As if somebody tore it up. Outside, he could see the first lights of dawn. He stood up, and he was about to leave the office, when he saw Chance. A tried, dirty and annoyed Chance, who walked straight to the stairs with an I'm not seeing, I'm not hearing expression on his face. Jake was about to ask him what happened and where was he, but when he opened his mouth, Chance raised his right arm.

"Not even a word Jake! Not even a word!" warned his friend. Chance walked up the stairs without noticing the sleeping Callie on the couch.

Jake was scratching his nape, when he looked at the departing Chance._ He must be really angry. I better talk with him later._ Then he decided he would wake up Callie. Chance probably would be insufferable for a while, and he didn't want Callie to know this side of Chance. After he heard the shout of the bathroom door, he went up the stairs too. He heated the coffee, looked for a clean mug, then he went back.

By this time Callie was awake. She sat on the couch sleepily rubbing her eye.

"Morning Callie" Jake greeted her and handed to her the coffee mug. Callie became more wakeful, when she smelled the coffee's scent.

"Thanks Jake", she took a sip, "It's very kind of you, I wouldn't mind doing this some other time."

Jake acknowledged the thanks with an embarrassed smile. He couldn't really say anything, so he left Callie with the coffee. He went out to the garage to tie Callie's sedan to the tow truck. Meanwhile Callie slowly drank her coffee. She peered at her clock. It was 6:32 am. Her eyes went wide at the recognition. She spent the whole night here! Until this moment she had believed she just took a snooze. But why didn't Jake wake her up? She had got the feeling somehow she was an unwelcome guest. Or not? Her hand hitched in the blanket. If she were unwelcome here, he wouldn't have brought her a blanket and wouldn't have waked her up with coffee. But he behaved so coldly yesterday. She put down the coffee mug, and stood up. She could think of it later. If she didn't want to be late she had to hurry. She had to go home and change dress. Unfortunately the suit wasn't designed for nightwear.

Jake returned after he managed to connect Callie's car with the tow truck.

"Chance returned the truck, so we can take you."

"Then let's go. I don't want to be late."

Callie took her purse and they got in the tow truck. It was strange for Jake to sit in the driver's seat. He had no idea when was the last time he had driven it. The trip passed with silence, neither of them said a word. Jake watched the road, Callie stared out the side window. She wanted to talk about yesterday evening, but she didn't know how to start it. Jake certainly wouldn't bring up the topic because he is too shy. So it depended on her. But first she had to compose her thoughts.

Felina gazed at the monitor incomprehensibly. She tried to log in for duty. But when she typed her code in the terminal she got a message that she was not on duty today. She typed her code again, and got the same result. She snarled to the monitor, then walked to one of the wall phones.

"Uncle" she said, when the phone was answered, "I believe I found another administration fault. The system told me, I'm not on duty today"

"There is no mistake then. I brought you out from duty for today. Before you say anything come down to the garage."

"But…"

"Consider this an order" Feral hanged up. Felina snarled again. _Consider it an order?_ _When I'm not on duty?_

When she left the elevator on the garage floor she recognized her uncle's imposing shape at the first look.

She was walking to him with firm steps, when she recognized he was standing next to a big object, which was covered with a tarp. Felina stopped exactly in front of him. Her uncle looked down her with a peremptory look.

"Lieutenant, you may forget your birthday, but I'm not. I wish you a very happy birthday! And here is your gift." He grabbed the pall and pulled it away. Under the pall a Panther Rapier faded in. Felina's jaw went down when she saw it. She always liked motorcycles especially sport motorbikes. Because the feeling of riding a motorbike was very similar for her to flying. But she could fly only when she was on duty.

Feral smiled at his niece's surprise. So he still could astound her.

"Do you like it?" he asked his niece, who was still gazing at the motorcycle.

"You kidding? That's wonderful" suddenly she gave her uncle a big hug, "Thank you Uncle. Can I try it?"

"Of course" Feral was holding out the keys, "But don't forget to thank your father too!"

"I won't" she promised, she was still smiling while she took the keys.

Felina was ready to spin out from the garage when Feral gave her a warning:

"Remember don't break the speed limit!"

He got a naughty smile for an answer. Then the engine screamed and Felina spin along out of the garage.

Commander Feral was walking to the elevator, when his phone rang. He answered after the first ring.

"This is Feral." he said and he was shocked by the news, "Prepare my chopper."

After the not too successful night, Chance was in no mood to start work. When he finished the shower, he gathered some food from the fridge. Then he sat down with it in front of the TV, and began switching between the channels. Ten minutes passed when he recognized Jake was missing.

"Jake!" Chance shouted his name several times, "Jake, where're you?"

He went up to the first floor, but Jake wasn't there either. He peered down into the hangar, maybe he was working on something, but he found darkness down there. Then he realized the tow truck was missing too. It must have been a call then, while he was showering. _It's great! I can take a break before he returns._ So he sat back. But still something was strange. At last he found out. Perfume! He felt female perfume around himself. In so far the odor was familiar to him from somewhere, but he didn't know where from.

If his nose didn't lie the odor came from the couch. He bent closer maybe he could find out where he smelled this odor. Now he found another trace. Long blond hairs laid on one side of the couch. He grabbed some and wagged his head while he was grinning. He left his friend alone only one night. Just one. His imagination started fast, but it had no time to go far, because he heard the tow truck's sound.

For now he finished the grinning, and left the office. Jake parked the truck. He hasn't got off yet, Chance immediately began the enquiry.

"Where were you?"

"Um, I just took Callie to the end of the old road."

That's it! The perfume was familiar to him because he smelled it on Callie earlier. _So she was here last night. _

"Callie was here?"

"Yes" came the answer after a little hesitation. Chance saw his friend get confused.

_Right. This is the time for a little tease._ It was easy teasing Jake with she-kats, especially about Callie. Chance knew he was crazy about her. When Callie was here, Chance usually flirted with her. To tease his partner and try to encourage him in this peculiar way. He liked Callie too, because she was a clever and beautiful she-kat, but that's all. When she was in danger both of them tried to save her. But the always-considerate Jake in such moments ran with his head against the wall.

"Really? And what have you two done on the couch?"

"Uh, what?" Jake puckered his eyebrows.

"Don't look at me, like I am completely stupid."

"Just watched the Litterbin Show, then she fell asleep. That's all." Now Jake was annoyed while he was walking to the office. He knew he would have to listen to Chance's teasing.

"Yeah, sure."

"She just slept here, nothing else happened" Jake answered him with a little edge. He wished he could wipe away that wide malicious grin from his friend's face. Surprisingly his wish was fulfilled, when the TV program broke.

"This is Ann Gora, Kat's Eye News. We're flying over Pumadyne, where a thief managed to steal a fully armed warmech, and is now heading to the city center."

In the pictures that came from the news chopper Pumadyne buildings were visible. On one side of the facility, the fence was ruined, and smoke came from it. Farther on a huge robot was visible, with two legs, and without a head. One of its hands was a cannon, the other a mechanized gun.

Chance and Jake looked each other, and said it at the same time:

"Let's hit it!"

The Panther Rapier spun along the beach road then turned to a side-road. When she left the bend, she accelerated almost full speed. The engines screamed loud. Some water sloshed on her face, when the motorbike crossed a puddle. She smiled. Enjoyed the speed and the wind. The one thing she missed from flying was the feeling when the wind hits the body. Only old Mega War airplanes had the opportunity to feel the strong wind while they were in the air.

When she was half way to the beach, she recognized that she was still wearing her uniform. At last she had decided not to turn back. She wanted to take only a quick test round. After that she would go home, change dress and enjoy her gift for the rest of the day.

She was slowing down, and prepared to take the next bend, when she heard a jet engine's loud sound. She looked up at the sky and saw the Turbokat tear along the sky. She could see that the Swat Kats did not just take a round around the city, they headed a certain direction. That means something happened, she thought. Judging by their direction they possibly flew to Pumadyne. So she turned to Pumadyne too. She didn't want to miss some good action.

"That don't look good buddy" enunciated T-Bone, when they saw the smoking craters at Pumadyne's fence.

"Where could it be?"

"I don't know, but I can see the news chopper. Take its direction, the robot should be there somewhere."

T-Bone turned the Turbokat the right direction, and decreased the altitude. Less than a minute later they glimpsed the robot. Two three fingered legs were connected to the headless body. In center of the body was the cockpit of the mech. Below the cockpit a large Enforcer emblem was painted.

At the end of the street several Enforcer cars were parked closing the street. The mech went straight towards them. T-Bone peered out of the cockpit window, and saw three Enforcer choppers. A familiar voice came through one of the chopper's megaphones.

"Stop right there, or we will shoot you!" ordered Feral to the mech. It didn't even slow down, so Feral ordered his Enforcers to fire. Bullets began to shower the mech from the barricade, but they glanced off the mech's armor ineffectively. The bullet shower ended with two bazookas, but even those two explosions didn't make any damage.

The answer didn't take long. The mech's mechanized gun had begun to spin, and returned fire. The Enforcers jumped to the ground behind their cars. The heavy-duty mechanized gun holed the cars, and broke their windows. Shards of glass showered the Enforcers, who were defending their heads with their arms. The mech turned the gun to the sky, while it was still firing. It shot down two choppers.

Finally the mechanized gun stopped. The mech still marched towards the blockade with heavy steps. It aimed the cannon, then fired. The Enforcer cars flew away, like they were made of paper. Now nothing blocked its way to City Hall.

Commander Feral snarled, when the mech easily took out his blockade, and at the same time took down his two accompanying choppers too. It was clear they could not penetrate the mech's armor, but maybe they could neutralize the weapon system.

"Move closer!", Feral ordered the pilot, while he was aiming at the mechanized gun. But before he could shoot, a rocket launcher with eight missiles extended out from the robot's back. One of the missiles had launched, and now was flying straight to the chopper. Feral's fingers tightened around the joystick, and fired.

"Evasive maneuver!"

The pilot turned the chopper away, but the missile still hit the tail. The chopper was spinning while it went down. It arrived hard on a building's roof.

Hard Drive's diabolic grin went even wider, when he shot down the last chopper. It was easier than he had thought.

"It would be a waste for the Enforcers to own this plaything!" He had learned during his not short criminal career, it was sometimes worth it to look at what Pumadyne was working on.

Thanks to his surge coat there was no computer secret that anybody could hide from him. He kept tabs on the mech project from its halfway point. He planned the theft for three months. He was able to learn the usefulness of careful planning from Dark Kat.

At that moment he glimpsed the Turbokat, which was streaking away in the sky. His smile tightened.

"It was only the matter of time. But I've prepared for this too."

T-Bone banked the jet, while he was flying over the destroyed barricade and the mech, which was crossing the barricade.

"Did you see that? They couldn't even scratch it!" worried T-Bone.

"Yeah" Razor answered, "Let's try to cut it! Go behind it, I think it concentrates its firepower forward."

T-Bone took a circle, and approached from the back.

"Two Buzz-Saw missiles will do the trick" said Razor while he aimed for the legs. When the missiles locked on the target, Razor put his finger on the actuator.

"Missiles locked! Away!"

The two missiles were on their way. But when they reached the mech's legs, they broke apart on the heavy armor. The mech kept its direction, but its upper body turned around, and began to fire with the mechanized gun at the Turbokat. T-Bone was surprised, so the first bullets hit the jet's wings, but he was able to dodge the others.

"Crud! It's armor is too strong!" snarled Razor.

"And he can fire backwards!" T-Bone added.

T-Bone dodged another salvo. Razor activated the Cement Cannon. T-Bone homed in on the mech again, and Razor hit the body, but it was no use.

"You should go closer, cause I can disable his weapons." suggested Razor from the back, "It would be better, if you can fly straight ahead of him."

"If I go down to the street level, there wouldn't be enough space to evade. We'll be an easy target."

Razor had to admit his partner was right. It had too much firepower for a frontal attack. Perhaps he could blow a big hole under it, came in Razors mind, like he did Dark Kat's spider. But this situation was different. In the park there was enough space, and he didn't risk anybody. Here, it was likely he might collapse a building, wherein surely there was somebody. The mech was getting closer to City Hall, so if he wanted to stop it, he should find out quickly how.

Felina has scorched down Megakat City's streets. One of the guards at Pumadyne had told her what happened, and it wasn't hard to follow the mech. She hadn't thought of what she would do when she gained on it. She only had a pistol.

As she twisted on the streets she heard the distant sound of shooting. She pulled the accelerator till impact, and spun straight to the firefight. Finally after a bend she peered at the mech as it left the crippled blockade. She stopped the Rapier and trussed it with her leg. The cycle's engine's low sound hadn't stopped.

Meanwhile the Turbokat launched two missiles at the mech, but they proved themselves ineffective. The mech's body turned towards them, and fired a deadly bullet shower. They hardly evaded it. When they homed on it again, cement slugs hit the robot's body.

Now something came to her mind, what she heard from Razor about a month ago, after they saved the city from the giant robot, that came from Dr. Greenbox's contrivance. She had asked, what would they do, if they couldn't go inside. In that case Razor would try fill the cannon with cement. So it would be useless or in a better case it would destroy the robot, when it tried to use it. She guessed, they were trying the same now. As she was an experienced pilot she could see they were coming from the wrong degree. The optimal horizontal position however was too dangerous, because the streets were too narrow for a jet. So they even won't have a chance to dodge, and that crazy tomkat will shoot them apart. Unless he didn't concentrate on them.

Without any further cogitation she gained speed. Felina's Rapier rushed straight after the mech. Felina pulled her gun out. When she reached it, she spun through between its legs. She raised her gun behind herself, and fired at the cockpit.

Hard Drive jumped in the seat, when a bullet hit the bulletproof cockpit's window. The additional hits had attracted his attention from the Turbokat to the street. A kat in an Enforcer uniform on a sport motorcycle had just left his mech, while she was firing at him. Electrical discharges came from Hard Drive's fingers above the controls. Now he got a close picture of the biker.

"So Commander Feral's niece wants to play with me too." he recognized her. _What a pity Commander Feral can't see his niece dead. _Since the SWAT Kats couldn't harm to him, so he was turning the mechanized gun to the biker.

Razor frowned. He was bending over his control panels, and he was thinking about how best he could use the missiles that were loaded in the Turbokat. Meanwhile T-Bone had caught sight of the biker. She must be crazy, he thought. But he saw the opportunity that the biker had offered them. With a wild turn, he flew the Turbokat between the houses, straight ahead to the mech.

"It's all yours buddy! Don't miss it!"

Razor just now recognized their situation and their opportunity. Although he didn't know why T-Bone brought himself to the maneuver. But now, it didn't matter. He had to shoot. He didn't have time to use his refined aiming system, so he could trust only himself. Without thinking, he glanced at the targets. He aimed the Cement cannon as he felt best. Then fired. The out flying cement slugs filled the cannon first, then they neutralized the mechanized gun.

"Bingo!" Razor cried.

While T-Bone hitched up the Turbokat's bow, Razor marked the biker. So she had attracted the mech's pilot's attention away from them. Unfortunately the mechanized gun had time for a last salvo, before the cement hit it.

When the mech's mechanized gun started to turn to the streets, Felina knew her plan worked. Maybe worked too well. Now that she thought about it, this was the craziest thing that she had ever done. She drove the bike as fast as she could, and she changed direction repeatedly, hoping she would be a harder target. On her desperate escape only one thing comforted her, the SWAT Kats had seen the opportunity that she had offered them.

The mechanized gun had begun firing. It couldn't fire for long, but a few bullets hit the motorcycle. Because of the strong hits it become uncontrollable. Felina wasn't able to regain control of her bike. She crashed into a parked car and flew off the saddle. She fell above the car, and hit the ground with her right leg behind the car.

She screamed and spread on the ground. Her leg was in an unnatural position. She was sure she had broken it.

_Cursed SWAT Kats, _snarled Hard Drive when he noticed that all of his weapons were filled with cement. _It matters not_, he would still be able to accomplish his plan. He turned on the radio.

"Nice shot SWAT Kats, but I still have more than enough missiles to destroy City Hall, if they won't give me the City's treasury!", he laughed.

"So Hard Drive is the thief" noted T-Bone.

"Unfortunately he is right. The mech has seven missiles left. The rocket launcher extended out from the body only for a short time, so I didn't have a chance to block it.", Razor added.

Meanwhile Hard Drive advanced unstoppably to City Hall. However though they had curtailed of his primary weapons, they couldn't hurt him or stop him yet. They only bought some time before the steel monster reached City Hall. But that moment Razor had an idea.

"Lift it!",Razor said aloud his idea.

"What?!"

"Lift it. We will take it out of the city and drop it somewhere. In the sea for example."

"But this thing weights about ten tons, at least! And have you forgotten what happened the last time, when we lifted something?", T-Bone hinted at the giant mummy.

"Do you have a better idea?"

T-Bone shook his head.

"No. This is one of your crazy ideas." T-Bone sighed, "Alright, let's do it!"

T-Bone led the Turbokat between the houses again, while Razor opened the hatch and deployed the magnetic lever. T-Bone was slowing the jet as they approached the mech from behind for the second time. When they reached the proper position, Razor activated the magnets. The lever attached on the mech's top.

"Thrusters to max!", cried T-Bone.

The three engines screamed. For a while the Turbokat just pulled the heavy machine down the street. Finally they managed to lift it up, but increasing the altitude went slowly. The whole Turbokat was trembling because of the weight. The strain was on T-Bone's face as he carried it too.

"C'mon baby! Hold out!", T-Bone pleaded the jet.

He couldn't get much higher, he had to maneuver between the streets. Before they really went away with it, the lever's arm broke. The mech fell to the street. Having lost its burden the Turbokat shoot out to the sky.

T-Bone decreased the speed and turned the jet back, because he wanted to see what happened.

"Crud! It will take weeks to repair this.", Razor fumed.

"Maybe, but it's worth it! Look!"

Down on the street the mech laid on its side. Buried under the mech was the most of a yellow truck, which was nearly flat. Next to the truck two familiar tomkats were standing, and staring at their deceased vehicle.

"The sea wouldn't be bad, but this way is better", Razor grinned.

"We won't see Burke and Murray for a couple of weeks.", joined in T-Bone, "Eye for eye, truck for truck!"

Some Enforcer cars approached the end of the street. It seemed that the Enforcers now could control the situation. T-Bone turned the jet to the salvage yard, and yawned big.

"Let's head home Sureshoot. We really can use some sleep."

"Agreed."


End file.
